Microbial community composition of deep-sea corals from the Red Sea provides insight into functional adaption to a unique environment.

Röthig, T., Yum, L. K., Kremb, S. G., Roik, Anna and Voolstra, C. R. (2017) Microbial community composition of deep-sea corals from the Red Sea provides insight into functional adaption to a unique environment. Scientific Reports, 7 . Art.No. 44714. DOI 10.1038/srep44714.

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Abstract

Microbes associated with deep-sea corals remain poorly studied. The lack of symbiotic algae suggests that associated microbes may play a fundamental role in maintaining a viable coral host via acquisition and recycling of nutrients. Here we employed 16 S rRNA gene sequencing to study bacterial communities of three deep-sea scleractinian corals from the Red Sea, Dendrophyllia sp., Eguchipsammia fistula, and Rhizotrochus typus. We found diverse, species-specific microbiomes, distinct from the surrounding seawater. Microbiomes were comprised of few abundant bacteria, which constituted the majority of sequences (up to 58% depending on the coral species). In addition, we found a high diversity of rare bacteria (taxa at <1% abundance comprised >90% of all bacteria). Interestingly, we identified anaerobic bacteria, potentially providing metabolic functions at low oxygen conditions, as well as bacteria harboring the potential to degrade crude oil components. Considering the presence of oil and gas fields in the Red Sea, these bacteria may unlock this carbon source for the coral host. In conclusion, the prevailing environmental conditions of the deep Red Sea (>20 °C, <2 mg oxygen L−1) may require distinct functional adaptations, and our data suggest that bacterial communities may contribute to coral functioning in this challenging environment.

Document Type: Article
Additional Information: DATA: NCBI BioProject Accession No. PRJNA354830 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA354830). and KY515469 - KY515585
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: Yes
Publisher: Nature Research
Related URLs:
Date Deposited: 06 Oct 2017 13:17
Last Modified: 06 Feb 2020 09:03
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/39756

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